AL Player of the Week - Connie MackThis week's AL "Player" is actually one of its leading executives - the A's legendary owner/manager Connie Mack.
Born Cornelius Alexander McGullicuddy, Mack played professional baseball (various NL teams between 1886 and 1896), but is best known for his ownership of, and his 50 years of managing the Philadelphia A's from 1901 - 1950.
During his tenure, Mack's A's would win 5 World Series (1910-1911, 1913, 1929-1930) and nine pennants. Reflecting the team's precarious finances and its frequent need to sell off its best players after championships, the A's also finished in the bottom of the league 17 times. Beginning in 1934, the A's finished in the "lower division" (i.e. bottom half) of the league every year but 1948 when they finished 4th. Between 1934 and 1950 they finished 7th or 8th 12 times. Accordingly, Mack has the record for both most wins and most losses as a manager.
"Mr. Mack," as he was universally known, was best known for wearing street attire (i.e., suit, starched shirt with a wing collar and straw hat or fedora) in the dugout. This attire prevented him from actually walking out onto the field during games. Instead, he would use his scorecard to make gestures, pointing to spots on the field he wanted covered during shifts, etc.
One interesting story that Mack related to sportswriter Red Smith in a 1944 Baseball Digest article was about the time he passed on Babe Ruth. He had the chance, he told Barber, to essentially get Ruth for nothing (the franchise never had money to purchase players), but he told Jack Dunn, the Baltimore owner, to sell Ruth instead (which he did to Boston for $6,000). Mack explained to Smith "Jack didn't habe any money in these days, and we didn't either. I remember I told him, 'no, you keep those fellows Jack and sell 'em where you can get some money. You could use it as well as I.'"
Mack was inducted into the Hall of Fame midway through his career in 1937. No other manager would be inducted into the Hall until 1975 (Bucky Harris).
